In
just a few short days Center on Halsted, the largest, most comprehensive LGBTQ
community Center in the Midwest, along with Heartland Housing, the Midwest’s
leading affordable housing developer, will be breaking ground on the region’s
first affordable LGBT-friendly senior housing facility. This is truly a historic moment, a moment
which many LGBT older adults never thought they would live to see.

LGBT
older adults living in Chicago remember a time in their lives when they had to
live in fear, live in hiding and live in secret. They came of age at a time when they could be
arrested for being gay, labeled mentally ill or fired from their job for being
who they are.

And
now, these same older adults will be witness to the development of a $25 million
project that was designed with their unique needs in mind. The 79-unit housing development will include
a mix of studios and 1-bedrooms and will be available to seniors over 55.

The housing development will also
include community gathering space for the residents in an adjoining building,
formerly a historic Chicago police station. This police station, which at one
time represented discrimination and persecution against the LGBT community,
will now seamlessly be part of their new home, the significance of which is
noted by many. As one senior recently
stated, “this building will be turned from a place of degradation to a place of
honor.”

LGBT
older adults will no longer be in hiding, they will no longer have to live in
fear. A safe, welcoming home for them
will now be in the heart of Chicago for all to see.